hazel-grace.
it was evening, and from where she was draped unceremoniously on the couch, socked feet resting on the back of her tabby-cat(who was affectiontely titled soup-kitten, a name which hazel-grace did not think she could be judged for, as she was only nine when she'd named her pet) hazel-grace could smell the enticing aromas of her neighbor's barbeque, mingled with the smells of flowers and the herb garden her mother tended to in their backyard.
outside, her two younger brothers chased each other, shrieking and yelling as they rolled around in the grass. from where she was supervising them through the kitchen window, hazel-grace's mother called, "hazel, why don't you go outside for a little bit? you're always reading; it's not good for you."
crinkling her nose, hazel-grace shot her mother a look of minor annoyance. she had a job. she had no time for things such as 'going outside'.
plus, she was warm and cozy, and she had little intention of moving. moving would disturb soup-kitten anyway, and the last thing she wanted to do was disturb her cat. right? right.
"but mom, this book is too good."
"what is it?"
"the fault in our stars."
her mother snorted. "sounds impractical. can't live in a world of dreams and stars, hazel."
"maybe, but i can try," hazel-grace countered. after hours of her job consoling people who'd been devastated by the cruels of reality, it was nice to get away from it for a while. "besides, the fault in our stars is a really sad book. it's really sad, okay? you don't even know."
mrs. superior joined her daughter on the couch, seeming to decide that her two sons could survive a few unwatched minutes of playtime without killing each other. "is that so?" she asked, amusement shining through her voice. she'd never understood her only daughter; hazel-grace thought in wide, disorganzied loops, while her mother preferred to think in straight, orthodox-governed lines. yet somehow the mother-daughter bond they shared was stronger than most; maybe it was the sheer contrast of their personalities that made them so compatible, not just as family, but as friends too.
"the girl's name in this book is hazel-grace, you know," hazel-grace continued. she was quite insanely proud of this namesake; she felt like it linked her to hazel-grace lancaster, even though it didn't, not really.
"what happens to her?"
hazel-grace bit down on her bottom lip. "well. her stars... they have a fault in 'em, yeah?"
"what, like romeo and juliet, with the star-crossed lovers?"
ruefully, hazel-grace ran her fingertips along the the cover of her book. "something like that, i guess. only not really. augustus and hazel-grace, they just..." she closed her eyes and gave a long sigh. "if i ever fall in love, i want it to be like that." only with less dying and tears, and more "okay"s and laughter. so really not like that at all...
sympathetically ruffling her daughter's hair, mrs. superior murmured, "that's not really how falling in love works, hazel-grace. it's a lot messier."
"i want to fall in love like falling asleep," hazel-grace claimed, still not opening her eyes.
mrs. superior gave a smile. "it'll be more like being woken up with a blow to the head, is how i see it."
"telling dad you said all of that," hazel-grace teased.
her mother chuckled. "well, it's true. you can't really control it, hazel-grace. love makes you a complete fool, but it makes you wiser at the same time."
hazel-grace blinked at her, and mrs. superior let out another laugh. "you'll understand someday."
"back to the thing about... about the stars..." hazel-grace cast fantasy-filled eyes skywards(of course, there was no sky, only the ceiling, but it didn't matter because she could imagine the sky) and gave a luxurious sigh. "do you believe in fate?"
"no."
quiet. then mrs. superior asked, "do you believe in fate, hazel-grace?"
hazel-grace thought for a moment. she thought of harry, for some reason. his stars certainly hadn't been kind to him. they'd let his sister die.
"i believe in something."
"we all want to believe in something, hazel-grace."
"that's a lyric from a hannah montanna song."
"hannah montanna? isn't she like, lady gaga now?"
laughing, hazel-grace said, "no mom. she's miley cyrus."
"oh. that one person who twerks, yeah?"
a snort. "yeah."
mrs. superior got up. "i should go check on your brothers."
"mom?"
"hm, hazel-grace?"
her daughter bit down on her bottom lip. she really, really wanted to talk about harry, and she didn't even know why. his face just kept randomly popping up in her mind's eye, glowing eyes and curls and dumb puns.
maybe it was just because he was her first patient. yeah, that was probably it.
all hazel-grace said was, "miley cyrus's stars are really lame, mom."
"i think she's cool."
"mom."
mrs. superior chuckled. "don't stay up too long reading, okay?" she headed out to the backyard.
and hazel-grace put down her book. she thought of harry, and the stars that decided his fate.
but mostly she thought of the stars in his eyes.
dedicated to @cathartics because aesthetics is just perfect i mean
the LIAM GIF
